The Irish side of the installation, which does not have audio, takes in views of the General Post Office and Dublin’s Spire monument. Its New York counterpart is in the Flatiron South Public Plaza beside Madison Square Park and the famous Flatiron building.

The portal, which weighs more than three tonnes, was designed by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys and is a collaboration between several organisations, including Dublin City Council and the EU Capital of Smart Tourism program. A pair of matching portals in 2021 connected Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, with Lublin in Poland.

The project will feature scheduled programming, including cultural performances at each city’s portal, with a visual program to celebrate New York Design Week Festival.

The Portals Organisation, the company behind the installation, said that it briefly paused the livestream on Monday to “update the software used”.

“The nature of the project, providing a 24/7 livestream, is such that sometimes interruptions will occur due to technical glitches, maintenance or simple software updates,” it said in a statement.

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It said it did not intend to suggest that people interact with the portal “in any particular way”.

“Our goal is to open a window between far away places and cultures that allows people to interact freely with one another.

“We encourage people to be respectful and from our position as observers, we see that the absolute majority of experiences is on the bright side.”